Ireland

I hadn't intended to send no emails while I was home, but the lack of an internet connection and a very busy month meant that I didn't get time to head off to an internet café to write.

The Journeys
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The journeys to and from Ireland were very different. Although they took roughly the same length of time. The journey out was through Miami (it looks very flat), St. Louis (everyone is very friendly) and Chicago (it looks beautiful on the lake). On the way back we had an overnight in London, which was great. Then we flew direct to Miami (still very flat), where there was a big wait of several hours and a gate change that had us trekking from one end of the sprawling badly-designed airport to the other, and then back again.When we landed in Miami we saw the news about Castro handing over power for the first time, and there was great local interest every time the story came up on the CNN screens around the terminal, with live coverage from Little Havana in the city.

So many people, so little time
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This was really my first time to be on holiday back in Ireland while living abroad. It was a strange experience. I thought that 4 weeks was ample time to meet up with everyone at least once. But with a week out in Ennis and a weekend in Leitrim, the rest of the time was taken chasing around trying to fit everyone in – an impossible task as it turned out. At least when you're trying to have a holiday as well. So for the people that I didn't get to meet up with I'm really sorry, and I'll try to organise it differently the next time.

And, as you all know, it's incredibly expensive. Not much more expensive than when we left, but when you're socialising a lot it's like money haemorrhaging from your wallet.

The New Ireland
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Before we left there were tons of apartment blocks being built and cranes everywhere. But this time it was at another level entirely. On the Dart into town there were hundreds of apartment blocks I'd never seen before, and hundreds more being built. And hotels, bars and petrol stations are being knocked down for apartments. It was the same on our travels through the country, in Ennis, and in Carrick-on-Shannon where everyone seems to live in apartments owned by people from Dublin. And everyone is talking about property. Not just Dublin property, but holiday homes either in the country, or Spain, or Turkey or Bulgaria. There's some kind of property mania going on, and at this level it's surely unsustainable.

The weather
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We were so lucky with the weather. It was a scorcher most of the time we were there. Scorchio indeed! We were very unlucky though on our weekend in Ennis. It was that Saturday of Oxygen when the whole country had really cold and bad weather. Myself and Jack went out to the beach in Lahinch for a walk, because we'd planned it. We were nearly blown away by the wind and rain. And I realised that the rain is much, much colder in Ireland. And there were still about 80 surfers in the water. More than you'd see on any beach here, and it's one of Costa Rica's main tourist attractions.

For the rest of the time it was just beautiful. There is nowhere like Ireland if you get the weather. Even if you knew that there was going to be even a guaranteed good month in the summer!

Back home
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And so we arrived back to our little Tico apartment on Tuesday night, jet-lagged and after some flight delays. It was strange not having our own place in Dublin, and it made me realise that our little Tico apartment is, temporarily at least, home.
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Well, that's it for another week. The new semester starts tomorrow, so it's going to be a busy week.

Pura Vida,

Éamon